Day 40 Make a Colonial Hornbook

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Day 40 Make a Colonial Hornbook

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Shortly before the Revolutionary War, nine-year-old Felicity, who lives in Wil-liamsburg, is torn between supporting the tariff-induced tea boycott and saving her friendship with Elizabeth, a young loyal-ist from England.

In Colonial days the first book children

had was called a Hornbook. It was ba-

sically a piece of paper attached to a

wood, ivory or other hard board and

covered with a thin piece of horn

(which acted as a clear covering).

We are making a hornbook for Felicity

today. Print and cut out her lesson. It

consists of her letters, numbers and a

synopsis of her story. In Colonial days

education was very much tied to relig-

ion so Felicity’s hornbook would have

had Bible verses or the Lord’s Prayer on

it too.

Once her lesson is cut out, get a piece

of fun foam or cardboard and cut a

rectangular shape just a little larger all

the way around to your lesson page.

You can make the handle whatever

shape you want.

Glue the lesson on the board. Now you

can get creative. You can cover the

lesson with plastic from a plastic sheet

protector and trim the edges with gold

ribbon (I cut gold strips from a gift bag)

or even strips of aluminum foil. I used

black marker to make it look like there

were small nails to hold the metal strips

in place. If you have small scrapbook-

ing brads, you could use those, too.

Colonial students carried their horn-

books EVERYWHERE so you can add a

piece of string or ribbon through the

handle so Felicity can wear it around

her neck, around her wrist or hook it

onto her dress.

I can’t wait to see

your finished product!